Myck Kabongo, 2012 or 2013?

Feel free to dump this in the draft thread, I just wanted it to get looked at here first.

I for one don't think Kabongo will enter the draft this year. While it is light with PGs, I really don't think he is ready yet. That being said, I regularly see his name mentioned as someone we should pick if we get a second first round pick this year. I do see the need for a young PG to develop, but does anyone really think he will be entering the 2012 draft?

Feel free to dump this in the draft thread, I just wanted it to get looked at here first.

I for one don't think Kabongo will enter the draft this year. While it is light with PGs, I really don't think he is ready yet. That being said, I regularly see his name mentioned as someone we should pick if we get a second first round pick this year. I do see the need for a young PG to develop, but does anyone really think he will be entering the 2012 draft?

If you think he will enter for 2012, state your case.

Alot of people said the same thing about Cory Joseph last year, and regardless of whether it was true or not, he still entered the draft and was still a 1st Round Selection.

If Kabongo does decide to Declare for the draft, I won't be the least bit surprised.
Though he may not be ready right out of the gate, I would bet there is a team willing to stash him and work on him as a project.

Alot of staffs feel the year is better served learning their system at the professional level, in a relatively controlled environment. Rather than remain in a system that could implement negative habits or injuries.

Last edited by Joey; Mon Mar 5th, 2012 at 12:13 PM.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

It could play out something like this: Kabongo declares this draft, shops himself around, if he gets a GM to confirm his being a first round pick then he stays in, if not back to Austin for another season.

Alot of people said the same thing about Cory Joseph last year, and regardless of whether it was true or not, he still entered the draft and was still a 1st Round Selection.

If Kabongo does decide to Declare for the draft, I won't be the least bit surprised.
Though he may not be ready right out of the gate, I would bet there is a team willing to stash him and work on him as a project.

Alot of staffs feel the year is better served learning their system at the professional level, in a relatively controlled environment. Rather than remain in a system that could implement negative habits or injuries.

The thing about Cory Joseph is that he was on a top 10 Nationally Ranked team as a freshaman PG, he also showed the ability to shoot the ball wellat over 40% from 3. Kabongo has not had that advantage, he is on a team that may not even make the NCAA tournament and has struggled offensively. We have all seen how being on a top team can boost your draft stock.

I think that Myck will be an NBA player, but I think his career and draft stock will benefit from staying one more year at Texas.

Mar 2, 2012 - Coming into the 2011 season, Oklahoma State SF Le'Bryan Nash (Rivals No. 6 overall) and Texas PG Myck Kabongo (Rivals No. 26) were two of the most well-regarded freshmen in the country. But while many of their fellow McDonald's All-Americans went to NBA factories where they've been surrounded by elite talent, they joined rebuilding programs in the Big 12.

As a result, they had to face the burden of high expectations, as well as the brunt of the other team's scouting report alone. Kabongo's Texas team lost three players (Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph) to the 2011 NBA Draft and returned only three scholarship players, while Keiton Page and Markel Brown are the only players from Oklahoma State's top 10 last year still on the team in March.

Neither Kabongo nor Nash was particularly impressive to start the season, but they've both rebounded in Big 12 play as their teams' jury-rigged rotations began to coalesce. Now they are faced with an incredibly difficult decision: cash in on their recruiting pedigree and potential to be late first-round picks or stay another year in school for a chance to be a lottery pick in 2013.

Kabongo, an extremely athletic 6'1, 170-pound point guard with a 6'7 wingspan, is averaging 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a freshman. As a prospect, he's the most well-rounded PG in the country, a lightning-quick true point with long arms and an improving outside shot.

However, he still commits far too many turnovers (3.1 a game) and needs to improve his offensive efficiency from the floor (42 percent this season). Realistically, he's at least one year away from being a reliable NBA contributor.

Most college basketball analysts would say it's a no-brainer for him to come back to school, but that's easy to say when you aren't the one looking at a guaranteed $3-4 million and a potential lifetime of financial security. There's no predicting the future: after an inconsistent freshman year at Memphis, Dajuan Wagner was selected No. 6 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft. Two years later, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, effectively ending his basketball career.

Even if a player avoids the injury bug, there's no guarantee NBA scouts won't fall out of love with his game the longer he stays in school. An underclassman with holes in his game is a a half-full cup with untapped potential; an upperclassman with holes in his game is a half-empty cup who may not be able to make the transition to the next level.

As a freshman, Nash, a powerfully built 6'7, 230-pound small forward, is all upside, averaging 13.3 points, five rebounds and 1.5 assists a game. He's got the broad shoulders of a football player to go with the quickness and shot-creating ability of a much smaller player.

However, he's an extremely inconsistent shooter (39.4 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from long-range) with a terrible 0.58 assist to turnover ratio. And while most college freshman resemble Kabongo in that they need to add 10-15 pounds of muscle, Nash has the opposite problem. He's the half-brother of former Oklahoma State point guard Byron Eaton, a two-sport high school star from Dallas whose weight ballooned in his four years in Stillwater, effectively ending his chances of making the NBA.

If he returns to school, he'll be expected to have an All-American type season while leading the Cowboys back to the NCAA tournament. But if his game plateaus, his career arc could resemble Gonzaga's Elias Harris, a 6'7 combo forward who received first-round talk after a strong freshman season, but will probably go into his senior season in 2012 as a borderline second-round draft pick.

I hope he stays in college for another season, as I think it will benefit him and his future NBA team, in the long-run (assuming he doesn't suffer a career ending injury). I think he has shown to be too raw and inconsistent this season. We've also seen his value drop out of the 1st round in some mock drafts, even in a PG-weak draft.

I see Joseph used as a comparison, but I noticed today that San Antonio has sent him to their D-league team, so hopefully Kabongo will notice that and realize that another year of seasoning against top flight NCAA teams will help ensure he is more NBA ready so that he will stick with whatever team drafts him.

Texas' offense is not really his fault, J'Covan Brown is their only real scoring threat and takes so many shots and not a good field goal %. If Texas has better players around him i really think Myck could've averaged 12 points and 7 to 8 assists per game this season

Texas' offense is not really his fault, J'Covan Brown is their only real scoring threat and takes so many shots and not a good field goal %. If Texas has better players around him i really think Myck could've averaged 12 points and 7 to 8 assists per game this season

J'Covan has been consistently good all season against double teams and tough competition keying on him entirely. 3.8 assists to 2.6 turnovers per game. 42% fg% is not all that bad. Bradley Beal is shooting 42.9 %, Kobe is shooting 44% this year in the NBA.

I think it'll depend a lot on the NCAA tournament, but assuming Texas is first-round fodder or misses the tournament, I think Kabongo stays for another year. If they go on a nice little run to the sweet 16 with Kabongo playing a major role, that might raise his stock enough to encourage him to declare. Another factor is that with Cameron Ridley committed for next year (along with some other good prospects), Texas should have a much better team.

I hope he stays in college for another season...hopefully Kabongo will...realize that another year of seasoning against top flight NCAA teams will help ensure he is more NBA ready so that he will stick with whatever team drafts him.

If he can get a commitment from a GM, then an off-season workign with personal trainer and coach, and a year of workign with an NBA team and THEIR personal trainers and coaches, plus going up against real NBA players in practice will be of far more benefit to his game then playing against NCAA talent.

Would the guaranteed money of being, lets say, the 27th pick be better than coming back for a year and getting guaranteed money as the 11th pick?

There's more guarantee in this year's draft if Kabongo can secure that first round status. MK has about a 50/50 chance of getting undrafted if he comes back and only has a modest improvement or if coach Barnes decides to give Myck diminished minutes at the point with new recruit Javan Felix in the mix along with J'Covan Brown who can run the offense. It's hard to predict both in terms of Kabongo's performance and the depth of next year's prospects.